Ep. 80 Beyond the Feed: Vulnerability, Voice, and the Creator Economy with Shawn Lim

Summary

AdTechGod Pod Episode 80: Beyond the Feed with Shawn Lim

Release Date: May 27, 2025

In Episode 80 of the AdTechGod Pod, host AdTechGod engages in a profound conversation with Shawn Lim, the founder of Human Algorithm. This episode delves into Shawn’s journey through the advertising technology industry, his transition into personal branding and the creator economy, and his passionate advocacy for marginalized communities.

1. Introducing Shawn Lim and His Journey

Timestamp: 01:06 – 02:49

AdTechGod welcomes Shawn Lim, highlighting his role as the founder of Human Algorithm—a media platform at the crossroads of business, media, technology, and culture with a keen focus on personal branding. Shawn's extensive background includes significant stints at renowned agencies such as WPP Group and Publicis, where he honed his skills in copywriting and marketing.

Shawn Lim shares his early career aspirations:
“I always wanted to write for a living and I started out as a copywriter.”
(02:49)

2. Transition to Journalism and Advocacy

Timestamp: 02:49 – 05:57

Feeling unfulfilled in the traditional advertising roles, Shawn pivoted towards journalism, seeking to tell long-form stories. He joined Vox Sports as a sports journalist and later transitioned to The Drum, where he covered advertising, marketing, and adtech. His tenure at Campaign as a tech and media editor further specialized his focus on emerging trends like AI and the diminishing role of cookies in advertising.

3. Founding Human Algorithm: A Purpose-Driven Mission

Timestamp: 05:57 – 08:58

The catalyst for founding Human Algorithm was deeply personal. Shawn's daughter, who is neurodiverse with a possibility of autism, inspired him to create a platform that highlights marginalized and underrepresented communities. As a queer individual identifying as pansexual and gender fluid, Shawn aimed to provide representation and a safe space for his daughter and others facing similar challenges.

Shawn Lim reflects on his motivation:
“I wanted to create a platform for my daughter... to create representation for my daughter.”
(05:57)

4. Building a Personal Brand Through Authenticity

Timestamp: 08:58 – 10:52

Shawn discusses the intersection of his journalism and marketing expertise in shaping his personal brand. Emphasizing authenticity, he shares how moving away from agency-associated identities to fostering his own brand on platforms like LinkedIn has resonated deeply with his audience. His posts often blend professional insights with personal narratives, fostering a community grounded in genuine connection and support.

Shawn Lim emphasizes:
“I can help people with that authenticity and vulnerability because it's something that a lot of people struggle with.”
(08:58)

5. Navigating Vulnerability in the Public Sphere

Timestamp: 11:26 – 15:42

The conversation shifts to the challenges of maintaining vulnerability while personalizing one's brand. Shawn underscores the importance of sharing meaningful stories without oversharing or reducing his narrative to trauma dumping. His approach ensures that each piece of content serves as a takeaway, encouraging positive change in his audience’s lives.

Shawn Lim explains his content philosophy:
“It's about does this content make sense in terms of helping people to make a change in their life?”
(14:33)

6. The Future of the Creator Economy and Monetization

Timestamp: 17:06 – 19:06

Looking ahead, Shawn envisions a robust future for podcasts within the creator economy, highlighting their intimate nature and capacity for storytelling. He anticipates increased collaboration between creators and brands, particularly in B2B spaces, leveraging podcasts as a medium for engaging and authentic content.

Shawn Lim predicts:
“Podcast has been exploding... and it's going to be one of the key staples of the creator economy.”
(17:06)

7. Final Insights and Encouragement

Timestamp: 19:06 – 19:16

In closing, Shawn imparts a succinct yet powerful message to listeners:
“In everything you do, ask and don't assume, because you might never know where that might lead.”
(19:06)

Conclusion

Episode 80 of the AdTechGod Pod offers a compelling exploration of Shawn Lim’s multifaceted career and his dedication to fostering inclusivity within the adtech and creator communities. Through authentic storytelling and a commitment to purpose-driven content, Shawn exemplifies the impactful synergy between personal branding and advocacy.

For more insights and future episodes, follow AdTechGod on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Join the ATG Slack community for networking opportunities, insights, and the latest in adtech innovation.

Transcript

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[Ad Tech God]

Welcome to the Ad Tech Godpod, your window into the world of advertising technology and the people behind it. I'm your host at Tech God. Welcome to the God Pod, your go to for conversations with those who lead on personal branding and work in the creator economy. Today I'm joined by Sean Lim, the founder of Human Algorithm. Human Algorithm is a purpose driven media platform really at the intersection of business, media, technology and culture. Really has a sharp focus on personal branding. I've seen a lot of Sean's posts on LinkedIn. I respect what he does today as well as the work he's done in the past. Having worked at wpp, Publicis and so many other agencies and brands in the area, Sean's joining me today from Singapore. Sean, welcome to the EdTech God Pod.

[Sean Lim]

Thank you. It's 6am here and I love the Anti God podcast. So this is the only podcast I'm.

[Ad Tech God]

Doing at 6:00am you know what, you're starting your day off, right? John, you're starting. And thank you. And thank you for accommodating the time. Thank you for getting up so early.

[Sean Lim]

Thank you. I'm a big fan of the podcast. As someone who has covered Epic for like close to 10 years, I think it's, it's a good podcast. I am.

[Ad Tech God]

Thank you. It's. It started as a hobby and it's turned into this. And, and you know Sean, I've. I've seen a lot of your posts on LinkedIn. I've seen the advocacy you do, I respect it a lot. I think it is brave and I think it's something that's great that, that you're leaning into. I do have a few questions for you and, and we'll take it back to how you got into the industry and, and what attracted you to the personal branding and creator economy. But how did you get into the industry, how did you start and what brought you to where you are today?

[Sean Lim]

I always wanted to write for a living and I started out as a copywriter. So I started out as a copywriter with a local Singapore agency called Volcanic, which later got acquired by WPP Group N and that was how I started and that was my internship and I went to DDB with Omnicom and that was my first taste of a real big agency. It was fast paced, but it was also all the long hours that I'm sure all your audience can relate to and I didn't really enjoy it. It was the early days of advertising in terms of social media. So Facebook and Instagram and Twitter was the main tools that we had. So it was a lot of Mariner reporting. There wasn't a lot of automation at time. So yeah, those were the days. And after DDP I went to Publicis with Starcom where I was on the account of Sea Games which like the Southeast Asia Games. So I was startcom Ninja. I was doing the copywriting, I was doing all that. But I was starting to feel like I wasn't meant to be in this industry in terms of, you know, just doing copywriting. I always wanted to be a journalist and telling long form stories. So as I was researching on the sports scene in Singapore, I came across this blog that was called Vox Sports and they were looking for journalists, sports journalists. So I joined and that's how I got a start in journalism. And subsequently a few years later I, I found the Drum. So the Drum was looking for a journalist and appeared to me that I was coming back to the advertising industry but from a different view, from a different lens and from a different position. So I was like, okay, this is what, this is what I wanted to do. So I was at a drum for five years where I covered advertising, I covered marketing, the creative industry, ad tech, and then I joined campaign where I was a tech and media editor. So mainly focusing on ad tech and writing a lot about cookies and increasingly AI as well. So I was there till October last year. One of the reasons why I left was my daughter. She's neurodiverse with the possibility of autism. So I wanted to spend more time with her. And that was how I started Human Algorithm, which. Which is meant to highlight the marginalized and underrepresented communities in the world, not just in Asia. And I wanted to do that with a lens at the intersection of advertising and media and business as well, because that's where the decision makers are, that we can impact change. And also to create representation for my daughter, because I'm a queer person, identify as pansexual and gender fluid, and I never had a representation growing up. So I wanted to create a platform for my daughter.

[Ad Tech God]

So thank you for filling us in on that. It's. It's interesting that you. You recognize the need to create something not only for your daughter, but yourself that's, you know, an underrepresented group. Right. How has that helped you throughout your year, year and a half that you've. You've created or really focused on this platform? How has that helped you in particular, and how do you feel that it's helped you connect with people throughout your. Your community and. And beyond?

[Sean Lim]

Yeah, so I always done things with a purpose, but it's only when, when my daughter was diagnosed with GTD that I realized that I wanted to do things with a purpose for someone. So that has refrained my perspective of the content I created. And one of the things that I've done with the platform is to. Because I use substack, so I can use it as a newsletter and also create a podcast with it where it's not just words, but there's also like the audio part of it is video, not like just audio like here. But it's a way for me to get a message out to business leaders, to change makers. And ultimately, I'm doing it as a love letter to my daughter when in the future, when she has a hard day, when she gets bullied. In that sense, I want her to come back to this platform or listen to the podcast that I have with people who are struggling with mental health and how they bounce back with queer people and the life they are living, people who are struggling with body image or mental health issues and the neurodiversity part of it as well. So that's how I have built that platform. And when I started doing it, I also started posting more on LinkedIn because I wanted to create my own brand. My brand has always been tied with the publication that I work for. So it's always been Sean that campaign, or Sean Let the Drum, and not just Sean myself. Right. So I wanted to be able to associate my name with something that I created. So I started posting. At first I didn't know what to post on LinkedIn. I just posted everything, any ad tech stuff, any marketing stuff. And by was my own journey of struggling with my identity of coming out parenting a neurodiverse kid that where resonated with a lot of people. So that's what I've been posting, what I've been posting. But it's not trauma dumping or it's not online therapy. It's more like how I can help people with, you know, that authenticity and vulnerability because it's something that a lot of people struggle with. Since I've, I've started sharing more. So even on my newsletter I write about things like, you know, how do you write with authenticity without over sharing or you know, without trauma dumping. So that, that's what I've been doing. Yeah.

[Ad Tech God]

How do you feel having worked as a journalist really at the Drum and other publications, having worked in advertising, how do you feel that that has helped you in being able to deliver the message better? Because as a core advertising, in particular journalism and in particular you're really delivering a message and it's very, you have to be very careful and how you do that in order to represent yourself as a personal brand or even a community that's, you know, often misrepresented or underrepresented in the market. Do you feel that that helped you do this?

[Sean Lim]

Yeah, definitely. I think not just journalism. Right. I met my earlier career of copywriting and marketing as well. I think a lot of founders or a lot of solopreneurs tend to shy away from marketing and sales and I don't think that that's the right thing to do. And also like, you know, sales is not a dirty word, right. So ultimately you need to be able to be your own marketing person, your salesperson because you wear so many hats as a one person business. So if I don't market myself, then who would do it for me? So it's a lot about putting myself out there. And also I subscribe to this motto or value of trying to promote myself without promoting myself. So that means that not not being salesy or not being too promotional and just coming from a place where I'm authentic and just sharing my story. And if you look at my LinkedIn post, very rarely do I try to sell you something. It's just me telling a story and people relate to that. And every day I get DMs of people telling me that, you know, they struggle with something, with being authentic or being Vulnerable or being stuck in the 9 to 5 career rat race. So that has been fulfilling for me.

[Ad Tech God]

I would imagine, coming from where I come from and even creating this account and creating this Persona of ad tech God. And you know, you asked me, where are you from? I said, secret, I live in, I live in the clouds. But putting yourself out there in any capacity, whether it's your opinion on technology, whether it's your opinion on I don't do it, politics or anything else, you are vulnerable to the outside world of what they think of you and what they say of you. So personal branding is very, very difficult, even for myself. Who's hiding behind, you know, an emoji.

[Sean Lim]

Actually, you know, like, it's personal branding doesn't just have to show your face all the time. There are people like, where it's faceless branding in that sense, but they've done well. If you look on Instagram, for example, there are a lot of creators that don't show their face and maybe their hands or maybe just video, fast video clips of what they are doing without showing their face. And they have tons of following. So if you do it right, like you, then faceless branding is always possible.

[Ad Tech God]

What do you think has been the highlight of your career? What was one of the things that you've done that you feel really helped you grow up and see and make these decisions that you've made to start this new project, this new venture?

[Sean Lim]

Wow, good question. So, I mean, I've been queer almost half my life and struggling with that, with identity, pretending to be straight. And it wasn't only until my daughter was born two years ago, almost three now, that I realized that I wanted her to live a life of authenticity and, you know, being able to come to me with her troubles with anything that she's facing. And I wanted to create a safe space around that. And with that, it drawn on me that I came to a realization that if I wasn't living my own authentic self, then it wasn't going to work because I wouldn't be able to show her or teach her how she can be her authentic self. So that was the catalyst of me going on this path because after I started coming out, and I actually only came out last year on my birthday, so it's been almost a year. And since then it's been a lot of love, a lot of warmth that has reached me and he has changed a lot of things that I've thought about in the past, because I used to think that it's hard to. I used to think That I can wear a mask all the time without revealing who I am. I mean, maybe one day you reveal your face, but for me, it was trying to live a life that I thought would work with a mask on. And that hasn't been possible since I came out. But it's a good thing because it has unlocked a lot of creativity in me doing things that I've never done. Like, I never thought I would be a business owner. I never thought that I would be a creator or even a podcast host. So this has unlocked a lot of things in me that I never thought would be possible.

[Ad Tech God]

Sitting where you sit, and with being in the creator economy, being vulnerable in, in terms of openly discussing many, many things that are personal to you, where do you find the. The biggest challenge has been for you over the last year, year and a half, having to do this or, or doing this in such a public manner?

[Sean Lim]

I think the biggest challenge is to know trauma, dumb or, you know, to not overshare. Because I think with a lot of people, they feel like they can use social media as a direct platform and that's not the right way to do it. So I do it in a way where I share my story, but I give a takeaway or I give lessons for people to learn, not just look at me, I'm so pitiful. That kind of thing, please come and support me. That kind of thing. Right. It's not about that. It's about as long as my message reach one person and help change their life, I've done my job. So everything that I put out there, every content that I put out there on social media, whether it's TikTok, Instagram or LinkedIn. Right. It has to as a takeaway for someone to go away thinking, oh, I need to make this change in my life. I need to be able to get out of this rat race. So for me, it's about, does this content make sense in terms of helping people to make a change in their life?

[Ad Tech God]

You know, Sean, I reached out to you because I had, I had seen a few of your posts and one of the things that I, that I respect, and one of the reasons why I reached out to you directly was really the fact that you put yourself out there. I don't think it's easy for people to do it. I think it's someone such as myself who's hidden behind a mask, like you said, for very different reasons. But still, it's. It's very different reasons. But I, I understand how difficult that can be for you to step out and say, hey, this is who I am as a person. This is how I feel. This is who I am on the inside. I could only imagine how challenging that is. I face that all the time. Even in this being an account that I sometimes say, oh, should I just come out and tell everyone? And then I say, no, don't. Don't come out and tell everyone because just enjoy it. And from your perspective and the things that you're going through and expressing yourself, I give you a lot of respect. And I think that's one of the main reasons why I wanted to have you here. It's not easy. I respect it. Know that I'm watching, and I respect what you're doing through your business, through your podcast, and really representing this group of unrepresented. When you look at the future and we can go towards media and the creative economy, where do you think things are going with the creator economy besides, you know, your personal branding? But where do you see the opportunity for monetization, for revenue, for expansion? It's rapidly growing. Where do you see things going?

[Sean Lim]

I definitely see things going towards podcast. And I mean, obviously both of us as podcasts, so we come from a place of bias. But I think podcast podcast has been exploding, I think, like, with a lot of creators trying to create shows. So it's hard to see now whether podcast is a talk show or whether it's still a podcast, especially with videos. But I think video podcasts or even just regular podcast is going to be one of the key staples of the creator economy because it's so intimate, right? You listen to it on the way to work, you listen to it while doing your chores or even doing work as well. And you get so many guests that share their own personal story. Like people tend to open up when you have turned on your podcast. So I think there's a lot of opportunities for creators and even brands and even businesses to work together. So, for example, with my podcast, I'm speaking to a client. I can't review who at the moment, but I'm speaking to a client where they are one of the holding companies, agencies, where we want to create a joint podcast with me as a host and one of their CEOs as a host. So these kind of partnerships are the way forward because I primarily deal in B2B, right? So people always think B2B is boring, but there's so many ways that we can create content, and podcast is one of them.

[Ad Tech God]

I agree. I mean, we, you know, market Picture has a few. Some are sponsored content, some are like mine, where we get to meet the people. Some are more technical, like Ari Paparos. It really varies. Before we end the podcast, Sean, what's the final message you want to give to people who are. Who are listening? Yeah. What would you like to say to them?

[Sean Lim]

I would say, in everything you do, ask and don't assume, because you might never know where that might do. Yeah.

[Ad Tech God]

Awesome, Sean. Thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you for being on my podcast. Thank you for being my guest. I wish you the best of luck.

[Sean Lim]

I'm really honored to be on EdTech God podcast. Thank you. I mean, a big fan.

[Ad Tech God]

Yeah, I'm honored to have you and keep doing what you're doing. I love it. I'm definitely a follower. So thank you.

[Sean Lim]

Thank you.

[Ad Tech God]

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the AdTech Godpod, a podcast for the people about the people. Stay connected with me for more insights, trends and interviews in the realm of ad tech. Don't miss out on the latest updates, so follow me on X Instagram and connect with me on LinkedIn. Don't forget, ATG Slack community has insights, networking opportunities and jobs. Keep the conversation going and stay at the forefront of adtech innovation.